As the Christmas ads continue to dominate our screens Sainsbury’s have weighed in with theirs – and it’s a heartwarming effort marking the chain’s 150th anniversary in business.
The clip, entitled Nicholas The Sweep, has dropped on YouTube and is set to make its TV on Tuesday night.
And it takes us all the way back to the earliest days of the J Sainsbury brand as the titular Nicholas – an orphan chimney sweep – is wrongly accused of stealing a clementine from their store and banished from the city.
He’s rescued from a freezing fate by Mary Ann Sainsbury who gives him an entire bag of the fruit and tells him: ‘If you can’t do something special for someone at Christmas, then when can you?’ – before giving the other chimney sweeps a festive season to remember by leaving the clementines in their stockings.
The ad certainly has the look of being set in London – which was of course where J Sainsbury’s first ever shop was located, in Holborn to be precise – but just where was it filmed?
Here’s what you need to know…
Where was the Sainsbury’s 2019 Christmas advert Nicholas The Sweep filmed?
While the advert might be set in London, it was actually filmed on location in Romania.
Head of Broadcast Marketing Laura Boothby explained to metro.co.uk that the shoot ‘took place on specially built sets just outside the capital, Bucharest’ – and that it was filmed in September when you ‘could guarantee the weather’.
Romania has become an increasingly popular place to shoot productions in recent years, with the country also playing host to a string of movies including Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Cold Mountain, Transporter 3, The Nun and Borat – as well as Killing Eve.
The whole thing took five days to film – and it’s a particularly special ad this year, given the store’s anniversary, which is prominent through the ad.
‘It’s been a special year for Sainsbury’s and we felt it was fitting for our Christmas advert to look back and celebrate the role we’ve played in making Christmas Christmas for the nation for the past 150 years,’ Boothby added.
‘We’ve always helped to bring a bit of sparkle to everyone’s Christmas, be it through the delicious turkey, brussel sprouts or even exotic clementines!
When is the Sainsbury’s Christmas advert on TV?
You’ll be able to see the ad on TV for the first time during Emmerdale on ITV on Tuesday night.
That starts at 7pm – so keep your eyes peeled for the ad break.
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